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Counter-Aether
Overview Here is my take on countering Aether, it's not end-all be-all, but it's a start. If you want to add your own advice on countering Aether, add it in the comments section below. Thanks -Disaru Aether'' used to'' rely on 3 main cards: 1. Phase Dragon '''(creature to mass PU, high damage, HP above ots and owls eye) '''2. Parallel Universe (make multiple copies of high cost creature for lower cost) 3. Dimensional Shield (you can put out high amount of damage while negating any direct damage from opponent for 3 turns; if using 6 dim shields, thats 18 turns of no damage, against a 30-card deck, there's 22 turns (opponent draws 8 cards initially) - which means most of the game you're invincible). Now ''that Phase dragon has become immaterial, it cannot be PUed (Parallel Universe). PU has also increased from 6 quanta to 7 quanta. So mass summoning phase dragons is nerfed. But now you're not facing mass dragons, you're facing immortal dragons that cannot be removed once played (may even be more'' powerful). You could usually handle phase dragons before by rain of fire, fire bolts, lightning bolts, poison but now they're immaterial. So the only option you have is BLOCKING their damage instead of removing it. ' Counter 1: Countering Phase Dragons Gravity shield blocks damage from all creatures above HP of 5. Since Phase Dragons have HP of 6 now, their damage will be blocked. If Phase dragons are the only offense of the aether deck, you have an instant win, no matter how many dimensional shields they put up to prolong the inevitable. Counter 2: Bypass Dimensional Shield Dimensional shield is, in my opinion, probably Aether's strongest card by far (you can tell this by seeing that even top50 decks add aether pillars to their deck just to play dimensional shields). Blocking 3 turns of damage could drastically change the outcome of the game, let alone having 6 dimensional shields at your disposal. You're basically invincible from damage unless your opponent has 1) poison' (too slow, aether damage will outdamage poison damage anyday), 2) momentum (decent strategy, buthow often do you see t50 using sapphire chargers or momentuming their creatures) or 3) removing the shield (deflag/steal). 1) Poison: no aether deck will have a purify in their deck, so you don't need to worry about poison not working. but you need to worry about is speed, and aether is always faster than poison. However, using death quanta for poison also allows you to use bone walls, which helps versus Aether. Against a deck with less but powerful creatures (as opposed to more but weaker creatures; FFQ) bone wall will always be effective. Using bonewall will delay aether damage, but also let poison build up. 2) Momentum: this has always been a favorite combo of mine. I used to momentum phase dragons then PU them multiple times, which would beat any orthodox aether deck anyday. You can use momentum on gravity dragons, or even use gravity mark and use it on any dragon of your choice. It also now gives +1/+1, that extra boost of damage. 3) Deflag/Steal: the BEST way to bypassing the dimensional shield is getting rid of it. Fire and Darkness always do well versus Aether's dimensional shield because they can destroy it (deflag) or even steal it for themselves (steal) . Counter 3: Countering Phase Spiders This is the only viable PU-able aether creature (why would you PU spark). But it has fairly low HP (2 health), so it can easily be countered by otyughs, firebolts, icebolts, drain life, maxwell's demon, owls eye, pretty much anything that does a little damage. Counter 4: Countering Immortals The immortals can bypass the first counter (gravity shield), but they have low damage. If you want to use titanium shield (reduce damage by 2) or even diamond shield upgrade (reduce damage by 3), it makes immortals seem like photons or skeletons, but immortal photons or skeletons. Useless nonetheless. Counter5: Quantum Denial Aether creatures and spells in general cost a high amount of quanta. Using a denial deck (monodark, time/earth, earth/gravity) can slow their assault and even lock it down completely. Comments/Additions Category:If you're running an FFQ deck, you can easily outlast a Mono-Aether deck. Make sure you have at least 3 Empathic Bonds (at the full 23 creatures this is 69 hhealing per turn which is enough to counter 6 Phase Dragons and Immortals). Then switch your Emerald Pillars to Deflags/Steals and use your mob to recover the damage while you wait for a deflag to break through the dimensional shield.